Boulder Beer Co Singletrack Copper Ale

During a conversation with my roommate today, we discussed change. Change is a scary thing, but as you get more experienced, you get better at it. Rather than an ominous shadow in the future, it is an inevitability. People, places, opinions, tastes, and you are in a constant state of change. If you have trouble grasping this, you might feel like you are downriver without a paddle. Or Mars without oxygen. Regardless, you are in a rough spot.

But there are some constants in life as well. Some of them are exciting, some of them are less exciting. Even number years will always be election years. The Cubs will always suck. Ever winter has a spring to follow it.

And good beer is brewed somewhere in the world. Hopefully, it’s brewed pretty close. For me, I found some brewed in Boulder, which is right across the Continental Divide from me. From it comes tonight’s beer: Boulder Beer’s Singletrack Copper Ale.

The Copper Ale was a tricky beer to pin down. A lot was going on, but all the while, not a lot was happening, but I knew one thing: I liked it. The ale had a foggy, ochre color and thick, white head, smelling of dried, sweet fruits, like apricots and raisins, with a hint of chocolate. Hops was also apparent, but not as strong as fuller-bodied ales. This beer wasn’t heavy nor light, just in the middle, which made the beer approachable and enjoyable during many occasions.

As I mentioned before, the flavor of the beer was hard to pin down. Despite being medium-to-light, it had a very full flavor. The bitterness of the hops cleverly joined with the creamy caramel of the malt, but there was something… else. Maybe it was the dried fruit from before, but no, the next sip lacked this flavor. Suddenly, it was very warm and mellow, then cool and crisp. It then had the mouthfeel of lime juice, without the flavor, if that makes sense.

Suddenly, I found myself over-thinking the beer. Although I have encouraged you to think about every sip, you can’t think too much. I had to take a step back. The Singletrack is a rogue beer, a wildcard. All I know for sure is that I enjoyed it quite a lot, and I liked the change that it brought about for my pallet.

As for future posts, I am finalizing a trip to Fort Collins, home to at least four breweries. Next week Wednesday will be a good day full of good beer. I’ll keep you posted.